Of the four women’s Division I teams left standing, Stanford and UCLA have yet to claim an NCAA Division I title. The other two teams, North Carolina and Notre Dame, have captured a combined total of 20. The Tar Heels are going for their 19th title, but their coach, Anson Dorrance, insists their role is that of the spoiler going up against three programs he insists may have their best teams ever.
Author Archives: Ridge Mahoney
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP: Final four preview
Notre Dame (25-0-0) plays Stanford (22-1-1) at 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPNU) in the first semifinal, which is followed by North Carolina (23-1-2) against UCLA (22-0-2) at 7 p.m (ESPNU). Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney previews the four semifinalists.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Davino leaves FC Dallas, which has means to shop
[MLS] For the second time in as many seasons, FC Dallas has cut loose a high-priced international player.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA sets up rematch with North Korea
[UNDER-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP] For the second time in three weeks, the United States and North Korea will meet to decide a world championship. The USA beat Germany, 1-0, and North Korea edged France, 2-1, Thursday to set up a showdown in the final Sunday at 4:30 ET (TV arrangements TBA.). Three weeks ago, the North Korean under-17 team defeated its U.S. counterpart, 2-1, to claim the first-ever title of that age group for female players.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Blanco busy with Santos
[MEXICO] Defending champion Santos, with 22-year-old New Mexico product Edgar Castillo and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who is on loan duty from Chicago, could only manage a 0-0 tie at home against Toluca in the first leg of their semifinal.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS starts earlier in 2009 & juggles international conflicts
[MLS] March 19 isn’t the earliest starting date for an MLS season. It’s not even in the top two. Still, it’s 10 days earlier than the 2008 season, and the third earliest in league history. Only the 1998 (March 15) and 2000 (March 18) seasons got underway prior to the 2009 campaign, which will be the first that league officials make significant concessions to the FIFA international match calendar, though details of those arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
What’s a good keeper worth?
[MLS] About an hour before MLS Cup 2008 kicked off at Home Depot Center, San Jose keeper Joe Cannon confirmed he’d been informed by Quakes management the option on his contract wasn’t being picked up for 2009.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Generation adidas squad headed to England
[MLS] A squad of young American players, all members of the Generation adidas program, are headed to England next week for eight days of training and matches.San Jose Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop is in charge of the 16-player roster, which will face the reserve teams of West Ham, Chelsea and Aston Villa and also attend Premier League and Champions’ League matches during the stay.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Positive Developments in Philly
[MLS] Politicians, executives, and fans gathered Monday to witness the official ground-breaking for a stadium that will house the Philadelphia MLS franchise starting in 2010. League commissioner Don Garber and lead investor Jay Sugarman wielded shovels for a photo opportunity that followed about a month of actual work, once site preparation had been completed, in Chester, Pa.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
The Concacaf Conundrum
The introduction of the Concacaf Champions League taxes the participating MSL teams in 2008. The international schedule only gets worse next year when the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup are added to the mix.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS: The Designated Player Experiment
MLS clubs increased their spending on players with the introduction of the Designated Player in 2007. The investment in high-priced players has produced mixed results.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Year In Review: Best Of MLS
The second year of designated players was also the first year of liberalized rules regarding limits on foreign player. With some teams overloaded by games in different competitions, many MLS teams relied on youngsters to get the job done.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Reserve Division is gone. Now what?
Putting the MLS Reserve Division out of its misery, unfortunately, is the merciful, and sensible, thing to do with the league also cutting down on roster spots for developmental players.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS boss moves to Arsenal
[MLS] One of the founding fathers of Major League Soccer is heading back home. Deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who moved to the USA from England in 1992 to work on the 1994 World Cup and helped launch MLS, has accepted the position as CEO of Arsenal Football Club, effective in January.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ching goal steers Dynamo into quarterfinals
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The precision of Dwayne De Rosario, the strength of Brian Ching, and the determination of the entire Houston Dynamo lineup has earned a spot in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Jaqua, Parke, Sturgis head expansion picks
[MLS] With the 10 picks available in the expansion draft, Seattle Sounders FC spread its selections around. It selected a promising rookie, several capable younger players, and a few veterans while filling slots in defense, midfield, and forward. In fact, in a pinch, with keeper Kasey Keller and midfielder/winger Freddie Ljungberg already in tow, Seattle could field a decent team and also have three subs when signings Sebastian LeToux and Sanny Nyassi are added.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Seattle ponders its player options
[MLS] If there’s an MLS expansion draft on a Wednesday, somebody must be working late in Northern California on Tuesday night. The offices of Match Analysis in Emeryville is where Seattle Sounders FC president Adrian Hanauer and technical director Chris Henderson spent the entire day and much of the night in preparation for the MLS expansion draft to be conducted Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. Eastern. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney looks at likely Seattle picks. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
A big Wednesday for Dynamo
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Several MLS teams, not just coach-less newcomer Seattle Sounders FC, are in tricky situations as they prepare for the expansion draft Wednesday, but only Houston is also getting ready to play a competitive match.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Cristman, Kirovski traded as dealing begins
[MLS/LIST] Forwards Adam Cristman and Jovan Kirovski were traded Monday as MLS teams begin the process of tweaking their rosters for the 2009 season. Teams are allowed to protect 11 players and can only lose one player in the expansion draft, to be held Wednesday. Expansion club Seattle Sounders FC can select no more than 10 players, so not every team will necessarily be directly affected by Seattle’s selections. For an update on the latest trades and a list of unprotected players. …
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Crew faces tough choices going forward
Having won its first MLS championship, now comes the hard part for the Columbus Crew. Tough as it is getting to the top — remember this is a team that won the Supporters’ Shield in 2004 before fizzling in the playoffs and hadn’t been back to the postseason since – any coach and any player in any sport will tell you staying up there is a true test of championship mettle.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Crew strikes at critical moments
[MLS CUP 2008] Sunday at Home Depot Center met two of the three original MLS teams never to play for the league title, and Columbus prevailed over the stubborn NewYork Red Bulls, 3-1, to end a five-year run of Supporters’ Shield failures in the final. Guillermo Barros Schelotto set an MLS Cup record by assisting on goals by Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk to down New York, which played perhaps its best postseason game at both ends of the field. A goal by John Wolyniec tied the game briefly in the second half, but ultimately New York was cruelly punished for its lapses.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
REPORT CARD: Columbus Crew-New York Red Bulls
[MLS CUP 2008] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the players’ performance in the Columbus Crew’s 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls’ in MLS Cup 2008 on Sunday …
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Three biggies in three days
The big game – MLS Cup 2008 – is Sunday, but the big meeting is Friday and the big draw is set for Saturday. On Friday, the MLS Board of Governors will vote on many competition and scheduling issues for the 2009 season, and late in the afternoon Commissioner Don Garber will make many of those decisions public. On Saturday is the draw for the final round of Concacaf World Cup 2010 qualifying – the Hexagonal – in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Angles abound for grand MLS Cup
There are too many variables to consider when assessing whether Columbus or New York holds the upper hand for their meeting Sunday in MLS Cup 2008 (TV, ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET). But when you examine the foreign influence, the young domestic talent and the old hands on both teams, one team clearly has an edge …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Young Yanks too good for Guatemala
As he had promised, USA coach Bob Bradley called up mostly younger players for the final match of the Concacaf World Cup semifinal round, and they responded with a polished performance that blanked Guatemala, 2-0, on a brisk night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.